Chapter 31: Sage mode

Fukasaku thought Ryo would be really sad to hear this news. He didn't expect him to stay so calm.

Is it because he doesn't really understand the power of Sage mode? Jiraya wondered. Anyway, he and Minato looked at each other and decided not to tell him about its value for now, to avoid making him feel sad.

However, it wasn't the case. Ryo understood that when using his Ice he's becoming part of nature itself, and he had no need for Sage Mode.

What does natural energy bring to his mind? The Juubi! Ryo remembered clearly that Kurama told Naruto about the Juubi being natural energy.

What does talking about the Juubi bring up? Kaguya! The way this Ice mode that Ryo has been described actually makes it a possibility that it could be grown into a level comparable with that of Kaguya's powers!

Yes, he doesn't have energy that comparable with the Juubi, but his ice mode if well controlled can become something comparable to it, as he can use all of the natural energy around him. Could this be evolved in other ways, like turning his Sharingan into a Rennigan?

Ryo felt that he was, for the 1st time, appreciating properly the trump card given to him when crossing over.

"Fukasaku Sama, what should I do to learn the Sage mode?" Ryo asked as if he didn't know what to do.

"Ryo Chan, if you want to learn ii, you need to go to one of the 3 sacred sage regions: Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest and Ryuchi Cave. You already are a contractor of our clan, so Mount Myoboku always welcomes you."

"Boss, do you think that the kid can learn Senjutsu?"

"Yes. As I said before, Ryo's special mode protects him from being overwhelmed by natural energy. He just needs to learn to absorb it."

"But you said he can never learn Sage mode! How can he go there to study it?"

Minato and Jiraya intended on hiding the benefits of sage mode from Ryo, as not being able to learn it shouldn't be a small blow to him.

However, they never thought that Pa would agree that goes to learn it in mount Mobyoku. He knew that Ryo can't enter it and promised him to let him practice it. All people present became puzzled by this.

"Ryo Chan can't enter Sage Mode indeed, be he doesn't need to. His affinity for natural energy in his own mode exceeds sage mode, but he needs to not rely on his Chakra. I don't know if, in the future, this will be better or worse for him."

"Fukasaku Sama, you said that I can't enter the sage mode after Ice Elementization. Then can you tell me, if I lift it off like this, would that be any different?" As he finished his words, he got back to his normal status.

"Is this special status called Ice Elementization? It is a very suitable name, but I'm afraid you can enter sage mode even in your present state."

"Why!" Ryo never thought that the answer would be that he can't.

"Two reasons Ryo Chan: On one hand, you don't have enough Chakra for it. Second, because you were already baptized with natural energy when you were still learning to refine Chakra. When you 1st refined you Chakra, I'm pretty sure that you've had more Chakra than most people your age!"

Ryo recalled the 1st time he extracted Chakra. He had really high levels for a 4-year-old. Even for an Uzumaki that age, it shouldn't be so huge!

However, over the course of the following years, his Chakra levels grew at a normal rate. He was always exceeding his peers, but that was only due to his great head start.

"Yes, indeed I've had more."

"Being baptized with natural energy is definitely a good thing for the average person, but it is not necessarily ideal for you. Your own natural energy absorption rate should already be hyper fast. With baptism, it became even faster. Absorbing natural energy too quickly won't give your chakra time to merge with it, forcing you into what you call Ice Elementization whenever you try to enter Sage Mode. "

After listening to Pa's words, Ryo's eyes lost their glow. It seems that he can't ever reach this goal of his.

Ryo still craved the power increase delivered by sage mode. But it seems he can only use Ice with natural energy. The problem with that is that he'll probably have to rely only on his Chakra for other releases.

Ryo felt that he was imprisoned in this 7-year-old body of his. He is doomed with being limited with his body's maximum Chakra. Now that maximum is barely on the level of a Special Jounin.

The problem with having such a body can't be solved for now, but the over-consumption of chakra for elementization can be solved by learning Senjutsu. This got Ryo excited for the future, for he will be able to use many High-level Ice Jutsus without using Chakra.

He estimates that this should be enough for him to fight Kushina in her Cloak mode, and while she's almost on a Kage level with that, Ryo still wants more: The 3rd world war is no small deal.

"Fukasaku Sama, when can we start?" Ryo asked him impatiently.

"At any time, as long as Jiraya Chan agrees!"

"Me? I have no objections. This little devil is a Yamanaka, and an apprentice of Kushina. Learning Senjutsu would only improve his strength, and that's good for Konoha's sake."

Jiraya always had Konoha above all. He knew that the Ino-Chika-Cho clans have always been loyal to the village, and that Kushina is a heir of the will of fire. Her disciples shouldn't be bad. And this kid is the backbone of the Konoha Hospital. He was very happy to agree.

"Well then Ryo Chan, Prepare yourself, and three days later, you'll be reverse summoned by Ma."

"Ok, thank you so much Fukasaku sama!"

"If there's nothing more, I'll be gone!"

"Boss, Take care!" Jiraya answered him.

Fukasaka waved at everyone and returned to Mount Myoboku.

"Ryo, don't practice tomorrow. Go with Kushina and buy some M.R.Ps and some food pills." Minato patted on Ryo's shoulder as he told him that advice.

His words came with his own memories, and brought back some to Jiraya's mind as well. Both of their faces turned green! Ryo also was reminded by Minato's words of the food consumed in Mount Myoboku.

"Kushina Nechan, please! Let's go shopping with me tomorrow!"

"Okay! But what happened to them?" Kushina was puzzled about what happened to the other two contractors, as she didn't know about that food.

"I don't know either. They just mentioned Mount Myoboku. That's it. It may be because the food there isn't delicious!"

"Is that it Minato?" Kushina asked her boyfriend.

"Yeah, that's right!" Minato just wanted to stop talking about this topic.

"Kakashi, tomorrow you will accompany me too" Ryo remembers suddenly that Kakashi was being ignored by everyone.

Kakashi, on the other hand, is continuing to work on Rasengan. Hearing Ryo's words, he stopped and nodded.

Ryo has been living in Konoha now for over 7 years. This is the 1st time in this life that he takes a step into the outside world.